Lukashenko wants to "promote Belarussian fashion"

The decree says the contests should boost "the aesthetic and spiritual education of young people".

Leading government officials, including the culture and education minister, will supervise the contests which are to take place in all the regions in May and June.

However, contestants will be parading in traditional national costumes instead of swimsuits, as the decree says competitions should be held exclusively to "promote traditional national clothes and popularise Belarussian fashion".

Protests

The presidential decree has sparked protests among some women's rights activists, who say there are more important areas for public funding in a poverty-stricken country.

"Our government would do better and deal with other problems, like those of orphaned children, families with many children, or Belarussian women forced into prostitution," Valentina Svyatskaya, head of the Cassiopea women's rights organisation, told French news agency AFP.

She said that private enterprises - not the state - should finance such projects.

President Lukashenko, who has been facing harsh criticism for his authoritarian style of government, said the winner of the national beauty contest "Miss Belarus-2002" will be crowned in the capital Minsk in June.